Upon lateral impact, an air bag deploys between the occupant and intruding object to protect the outboard front and rear occupants. The present invention defines an air bag having multiple inflatable chambers within the air bag that insures the front and the rear panels of the air bag remain spaced apart to provide added protection for the occupant while keeping the chamber volume at an acceptable level.
In order to control the inflated shape and volume of an air bag it has been proposed to directly sew the front and rear panels of the cushion together. This type of construction defines various chambers in the air bag (in which certain portions of the front and rear panels are spaced apart) but this construction also places other portions of the panels in direct contact, particularly at the separator sew lines, thus reducing spacing which reduces the “cushioned depth” between the occupant and a side of the vehicle. Additionally, inflation gasses often impinge on critical cushion components. This is not the case with the present invention.
Accordingly the invention discloses a side impact protection restraint system having an air bag of sufficient length to extend from a vehicle seat to an occupant's chest. The air bag, upon inflation, is of sufficient height to extend from proximate the seat of the vehicle to a location generally adjacent the shoulder of a 95th percentile sized seated occupant such that the inflated air bag will lie between the occupant and a side portion of the vehicle. The air bag includes a first and a second panel of material joined together to create a pair of inflatable volumes and a single internal tether or separator for forming corresponding bridges between predetermined regions of the first and second panels. The internal tether is positioned at an acute angle between 45 and 65 degrees with respect to the seat back angle, so as to position the lower chamber below the occupant's ribs. Upon inflation of the air bag, the internal tether functions to regulate flow of the deployment gasses.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an air bag to protect one or more vehicle occupants in a side impact crash event. The features, functions, and advantages can be achieved independently in various embodiments of the present invention or may be combined in yet other embodiments.